Trader Joe’s Halloween Cheese Board

This post contains collections of products that I personally recommend (it may contain affiliate links).

Updated 2023.

Once September rolls around, Trader Joe’s morphs into a Fall wonderland filled with pumpkin-shaped goodies and fall flavors in every food group. Honestly, once I see their Halloween items in stock, I start to collect my favorites for future boards. From ghost and bat chips to spooky gummies and pumpkin popcorn, Trader Joe’s is an absolute gold mine for themed snacks.

For other autumnal inspiration, take a look at my Elevated Fall Charcuterie Board, Fall Burrata Board, Pumpkin Cheese Ball, Halloween Snack Board, and Halloween Candy Board. Plus, if you’re trying to celebrate on a budget, check out my $35 Trader Joe’s Charcuterie Board or $65 Trader Joe’s Charcuterie Board and use it as a handy dandy shopping guide!

You can also search my board ideas by holiday, including other Halloween Board Ideas, Thanksgiving Board Ideas, Hanukkah Board Ideas and Christmas Board Ideas.

Start With Halloween Colors 

When brainstorming a themed board like for a holiday, I always start with a color palette. You’ve seen this specific use of color on my Valentine’s Day Candy Board, Christmas Cheese Board and Thanksgiving Cheese and Dessert Board (to name a few).

For Halloween, I go for orange, purple, yellow, brown, and black.

• Cheese twists and certain cheeses will give you orange
• Purple carrots and dark grapes are super fun to get some purple pops
• Popcorn and cheese are a sure way to get yellow
• Obviously chocolate is an easy one to get brown
• Blackberries or black olives are nice for black

There are other Halloween-specific items like Trader Joe’s Boo Chips (white), candy corn or mellowcreme pumpkins (yellow and orange), or hummus or chocolate dip (brown) will give your board a good dose of color.

Put a Pumpkin on it!

This step is crucial. I love putting whole pumpkins and decorative gourds on board. Check out my Fall Recipes category to see more examples of this. Tag me (@ainttooproudtomeg) and use #BoardsWithGourds when you post yours.

Be sure your guests don’t try to eat them. These are decorative only, though you should treat them like any produce on your board and wash/dry them prior! You can find them in a variety of colors. White pumpkins are super cute, classic orange is great. Gourds and small squash come in green, red, orange, brown, white—add the ones that have some personality and fun shapes!

What if I don’t Have a Trader Joe’s?

As always, this is just meant to be your inspiration. Follow the tips below, but you can easily find similar products online.

• Ghost & Bat Chips (veggie version)
• Candy Corn Flavored Popcorn
• Halloween Cookies
• Trader Joe’s Baked Cheese Crunchies
• Halloween Gummies

How to Build Your Board

When I build a grazing board like this there really aren’t many rules I follow. But placing the larger items on first will ensure there’s enough space for them. Adding in the smaller snacks is easy once you know where there are spaces to fill.

• Place dips and popcorn in bowls, then add the bowls and pumpkin to the board first to anchor the board
• Add the cheeses to the board and space-out evenly throughout the board.
• Arrange the snacks and berries around the bowls and cheeses, being sure to keep the sweet items away from the meats. Try to arrange complimentary foods close to each other, for instance: berries and pretzels by the chocolate dip and ghost potato snacks by the hummus.
• Tuck the salami into the empty spaces and add the sliced oranges to the edge of the board.

Honestly there are no strict rules with a grazing board, make it your own!

Show Me Your Boards

I hope this post inspires you to create scary good cheese boards. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the boo-tiful spreads and snacks you create from my tips. If you make something inspired by this post, please tag me at @ainttooproudtomeg so I can see and share!

And, If you liked this recipe, please rate and review.